Falastin Staff
Editor-in-Chief, Basma Bsharat
Layout Editor, Fadia Alagha
Copy Editor, Reem Qasem Advisor, Rania Mustafa
For this special edition of Falastin, we’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to each and every member of the PACC Summer Fun community. From the parents who entrust us with their children, to the students who give us their energy and attention, to the volunteers and staff that make every program the success that it is- each and every one is a vital and appreciated part of the PACC community. We would like to give a special thank you to Salah Daoud, @sala7_dp, for the cover photo of this issue.
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Letter from the Editor in Chief and Palestine Education Director
Summer has always been a special time for the PACC community. Living in the diaspora, many members of the Palestinian American community look forward to spending their summers visiting family in Palestine. For the past few years, PACC has been proud to facilitate and elevate this experience with our annual Homeland trips. At the center, summer is a time when we open our doors and welcome the PACC Summer Fun (PSF) community for fun and memories. Just like everything else, the genocide in Gaza and heightened violence all over Palestine enacted by Israel has changed the experience of summer for everyone. Naturally, our Homeland project trips have been put on hold. Some community members have gone on their own, but have witnessed firsthand the effects of the occupation on their experiences. For those of us unable to have gone, we continue to hold Palestine in our hearts and in our minds as we continue to dedicate ourselves to actions for the struggle. Here at PACC, we have been privileged to offer our PSF students a summer in a safe space full of Palestinian education, pride, and identity. Albeit different from usual, this edition of Falastin is a culmination of the PACC Summer experience. We hope you enjoy and appreciate it as much as we have! As our students continued to remind us this summer: from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!
Basma Bsharat Editor-in-Chief of
Photo credit: Salah Daoud
by Nadine Ghannoum
Artwork
PACC Summer Fun Reflection
Program Director, Fedah Mohammed
As the summer comes to an end, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on a truly special experience that took place within our center: our PACC Summer Fun program. Just like every other summer, our center hosted a summer program for our community youth to enjoy, but for many, it was more than just a summer camp- it was an opportunity for our children to grow, connect, and empower themselves in ways that will stay with them forever.
Our summer program stands apart from other programs at PACC, we are able to combine the joys of an average summer program with a deep enrichment of community and cultural education that you can’t find elsewhere. What makes this summer program so unique is how it merges fun with purpose. Our campers didn’t just make crafts, play fun games, or go on exciting field trips– they also engaged in activities that taught them about the beauty of their culture, history, and heritage, provided them with character development in a variety of ways, and helped them gain a sense of belonging that only comes from truly understanding where you come from. Students were not only taught about their roots, but they were given the opportunity to discover the power that comes with being in community. Through our daily fun activities that centered Palestine education, classes that taught empowerment themes and topics, and through the deep discussions they were able to have with one another, they began to understand that they are a part of something bigger than a summer program— they are a part of a vibrant community with a rich history, strong values, and a shared future.
As the director of the program, the most beautiful part for me (and I’m sure for many others) was watching these kids—many of whom walked through the doors for the first time in July as strangers—create lifelong friendships and
connections that they will hold onto for a long time. The fact that PACC was able to provide these kids with a safe and comfortable environment– an environment where they could be themselves and could express their ideas freely– while having the most amazing time was rewarding in so many ways. We were lucky to be able to give these kids an empowering and supportive space throughout the summer where they could step into leadership roles, help each other grow, and learn that, together, they can make a difference.
Yes, this program gave our community youth a traditional summer camp experience, but that is just scratching the surface of what it truly provided our children with. A program like this plants the seeds of community pride and cultural awareness in our children, nurturing them to become the strong, thoughtful, and confident individuals our world so desperately needs. It reminds them that they are the future of not just our community, but our country and the world.
I want to extend my deepest gratitude to everyone who made this summer possible: the dedicated staff and counselors, the generous volunteers, and most of all, the kids themselves. To the kids– you are the HEART of this community, and I can’t wait to see how you continue to grow and shine in the years to come.
Here’s to many more summers of growth, connection, and empowerment.
Student work from HOPE Class
Photo credit: PACC Summer Fun Staff
Message for Gaza
Noor Zeidan
My name is Noor Zeidan. This is a heartfelt message to all my brothers and sisters in Gaza. I am sorry for what you have been going through the last 291 days of this brutal genocide. Although it has been difficult to watch this happen to you, please remember that your struggles are valid, and you have communities like PACC (The Palestinian American Community Center) who stand with you until Palestine is Free. Keep pushing forward and keep your faith strong. Thank you for showing the world just how resilient Palestinians are.
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
Artwork by Jabin Instagram: @_artivistt
Noor during HOPE Class
Photo credit: PACC Summer Fun Staff
Palestine
Malak Salah
Green, the color of the olive trees
Red, the color of resistance
Black, the work of the people
White, the color of purity.
But when you think of Palestine, what do you think?
I think of this story:
“Mama what are those in the sky?”
A child in Gaza asked his mother.
“Those are shooting stars,”
Scared to tell him the truth.
Mama
Ola Alhamayel
A lot of destroyed buildings
A lot of bombs
And a lot of injured moms Mama, save me please, I’m scared, but strong. Rockets falling, And babies are injured.
Mama, tell me, if I’m going to survive
A lot of hungry kids, A lot of crying kids, Mama, I know that Gaza’s going to win. Please let this torture stop.
Ola practicing Tatreez
Photo credit: PACC Summer Fun Staff
We are The Zaytounas
The Zaytounas of PACC Summer Fun
We are the zaytounas of our ancestors. We are the children of the olive trees. We wait for Handala to turn around. We dabke around the world.
When watermelons are raised to the sky like flags, as the seeds fall, we grow. Palestinians pray in masjids and churches. We walk to Al-Aqsa, following the Dome of Rock. We know the path to Bethlehem.
Grandmothers gift us the tradition of tatreez. Grandfathers carry the keys of their homes from Yaffa to Gaza.
Grandchildren pick poppies and strawberries. And our parents pass down the poems of Falastin.
The martyrs fly to Jannah like sunbirds, Though our homeland knows the sound of bombs, We are louder than the weapons.
As we wait for freedom, we enjoy our zeit and zaatar with our families all over the world.
Green Group, “The Zaytounas” Photo credit: PACC Summer Fun Staff
SkatePal Visits PACC Summer Fun
Volunteers from Skatepal visited our PACC Summer Fun students and gave them a hands-on workshop!
SkatePal is a non-profit organization supporting communities throughout Palestine, promoting the social, health and wellbeing benefits of skateboarding to enhance the lives of local youth.
Why Palestine?
More than half of all Palestinians living in the occupied territories are under 21 years old. Yet for many young people across the West Bank and Gaza, cultural, educational and sporting opportunities are severely limited.
Why skateboarding?
Skateboarding has the potential to dissolve barriers between class, race, age and gender. It isn’t hierarchical - it doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner or a professional, a child or an adult. Skateboarding is fun!
The Skatepal team donated skateboards and safety helmets to PACC!
To learn more about Skatepal, check out their website: www.skatepal.co.uk
SkatePal Workshop
Photo credit: PACC Summer Fun Staff
Dean during our SkatePal Workshop
Photo credit: PACC Summer Fun Staff
Artwork by Abdelrahman Mahmoud Ahmed
Palestine Falastini
Sarah Mustafa
A year ago, we flew directly into Palestine for the first time, but the land was known by another name. For the past decade, having a hawiya meant we had to fly over Palestine to Jordan and endure the lengthy Jisr process to reach our destination, which took hours.
Last year, we were fortunate enough to bypass that hassle and fly directly into my homeland. It wasn’t because I’m Palestinian, but because I am American. For the first time, I was able to explore 1948 and visit Al-Quds freely. While this was a privilege for me as an American, many of my cousins, born and raised in Palestine, have never crossed the apartheid wall, never prayed in Masjid Al-Aqsa, and never seen the ocean. The only difference between them and me is my American passport. My American privilege allows me to tour my cousins’ homeland freely, yet it’s that same American money that funds the genocide, occupation, and ethnic cleansing of my people.
Last year, I experienced another side of Palestine. I savored the famous Yafa oranges, swam in the endless oceans of Akka and Haifa, walked the streets of Nasra, and met new people in Baqqa Al-Gharbiya. Since then, I’ve dreamt of how beautiful a Free Palestine would be, how breathtaking it would be to visit Gaza and witness its beauty, and how liberating it would be to roam all of Palestine without worry.
Growing up, I wanted to see everything in Palestine and reclaim the land during my visits. I was frustrated that my family living there was hesitant to do the same. A few years ago, my uncle pointed out my American privilege, explaining that while I sought to explore and connect with my Palestinian identity, their everyday reality under occupation was focused on survival.
A month ago, their worst nightmare became reality.
The IOF (Israeli Occupation Forces) stormed into my uncle’s home at 6 a.m., destroying his house and taking his son, Mahmoud, in his pajamas without warning or explanation. The IOF also demolished his restaurant. This is the harsh reality of living under occupation. This is the reality for at least 10,000 Palestinians who have been taken hostage since October 7th. I pray for the safety of my cousin and every Palestinian hostage in Israeli prisons. I pray for the day we see the end of the settler Zionist state and I pray for the day we see a Free Palestine.
Photo credit: Rania Mustafa IG: Raniamustafa1
Khalil Hirbawi Keffiyeh Factory
Photo credit: Rania Mustafa
IG: Raniamustafa1
Hakuritna Farms Story
Lana Mustafa
I was taught that heaven was a divine place high above the clouds, beyond what my mind could conceive, and that hell was a smoldering hot place located deep inside the earth.
Yesterday, I learned that there exists a heaven situated between two hells.
It has taken me a full 24 hours to process the pain and devastation caused by this disgusting and unjust occupation.
I had the honor of speaking with Um Oday, the founder of Hakuritna Farm, yesterday. I was amazed to learn about her story and commitment to the land.
Um Oday is from a coastal village called Em Khalid, which was stolen during the Nakba in 1948. She was born in a refugee camp and grew up wondering why she was there and not by the water.
Her introduction to a life in agriculture came out of necessity. Her husband was imprisoned under administrative detention shortly after she became pregnant. With pride, she recounted her decision to buy some sheep and raise them to resell. When her husband was released, they began what would later become Hakuritna Farm, despite the ongoing absence due to his regular imprisonment without charges.
Hakuritna Farm was a 32-acre oasis with greenhouses, fruit trees, compost, an apiary, an aquaculture education system, and so much more. They were leaders in agricultural education and had a thriving team of over seven people.
In the early 2000s, the occupying forces began what would become a 16-acre land theft process. First, they stole land to build the illegal separation wall to the left of the farm, and then they stole land to the right to build a manufacturing plant, which eventually expanded to 21 acres.
That’s not all; every day the family faces threats from the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) outpost. Just a few weeks ago, Oday, the eldest son, barely escaped the fields as soldiers shot live ammunition his way.
The chemical plant on the adjacent side is a pollutant nightmare, emitting thick layers of dust that cover the greenhouses, block the sun, prevents the plants from photosynthesizing, and, most importantly, poisoning the neighboring communities. It’s a perfect example of environmental racism, and they don’t try to hide it.
Despite all of this, the Hakuritna Farm team continues to plant, grow, and harvest an abundance of food. The land, though hurt, continues to provide. The people, though battered and bruised, continue to fight for this land because they are the land.
This is the land they were born on for generations, the land they know, and the land they love. The connection to the land is the most essential form of resistance. Connection to the land means life.
This family persists. They have hopes of rebuilding, and I know they will; I heard the determination in their voices. They welcomed us with smiles, even though there was heaviness, and we were so grateful to tend the land with them, even briefly.
Being a farmer is hard and demanding work—can you imagine the challenges of being a farmer living under occupation?
Just a week after I visited the farm, they received an eviction notice from the Israeli government. They plan to bulldoze their fields and confiscate the land. But despite this news, the farmers show up each day to plant their seeds. One thing about being indigenous to a land is that you care for it with all you have, till the last drop of sweat, till the last drop of blood.
This is what it means to be Palestinian, and planting seeds is the most powerful way of resistance.
Photo credit: Lana Mustafa
Demanding Justice: Confronting Israel’s Crimes and U.S. Complicity in Welcoming Netanyahu
By PACC Staff
Haliema Twam, Munna Aldakhlallah, Basma Bsharat and Rania Mustafa
At 5 am on Wednesday, July 24th, 50 of the Palestinian American Community Center’s (PACC) community members loaded onto a bus headed to Washington DC to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress. This comes shortly after the International Court of Justice ruled that the occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful and issued a warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest.
Over 20 cities up and down the East Coast sent buses full of their community members to call for the arrest of Netanyahu after almost ten months of the ongoing genocide. In New Jersey alone, over 2,500 relatives of our community members in Gaza were murdered by Israel.
It is with a heavy heart that we embarked on the journey of using our voices to demand that Congress stop sending military aid paid for by U.S. citizens to Israel to carry out their ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people. Many of us have been watching the horrendous acts against humanity that are backed by the United States as they support an apartheid state while sending billions of dollars of military aid to carry out these massacres.
As we made our way, we reflected on the amount of times we had made this trip. PACC Board member, Huweda Elsamna whose family was exiled out of Yaffa in 1948 and resettled in Gaza where she grew up, spoke about where the PACC
PACC Community in Washington DC
Photo credit: Munna Aldakhlallah
started and where we are now 10 years later. She was highlighting the accomplishments of the PACC, and it’s role in the larger communities and care for our families and children, especially over these last 9 months when our community has had to deal with the unimaginable reality of many of our family members undergoing a genocide and many Americans denouncing our humanity and attempting to silence our community. We also spoke about how bittersweet and hard it is to enjoy our space and commemorate any accomplishments knowing our brothers and sisters in Gaza are actively having their spaces destroyed, and their main accomplishments are making it through another day of genocide. We are exhausted and know there is still so much to accomplish towards the liberation that we can see on the horizon.
The mood throughout the day was somber and nervous because we know we are not protected by our own government and institutions that are meant to serve us, but seen as their opposition for asking for an end to U.S support in the killing of over 150,000 civilians. We are silenced for asking to be free, for identifying with our roots and recognizing our heritage and right to exist.
As we exited the bus and made our way to the Capitol, we were immediately met with police barricades that surrounded the buildings, ensuring the protection of Netanyahu, who was addressing Congress. The program was filled with speeches from over 20 different organizations and individuals, including Linda Sarsour, United States Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), CodePink, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) National, Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) National, Doctors Against Genocide, Palestinian Feminist Collective and so many more. In these powerful speeches, there was one common denominator: the call to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Among some speeches, they paid tribute to the recent brutal murder of Sonya Massey, a black
woman who was shot point-blank by police after calling them expressing concern over someone lurking around her home. She was a mother, sister, cousin, a friend and so much more. Her recent death highlights the interconnectedness of the systems of oppression we are fighting.
“We are the red line and we will not be crossed,” chanted an organizer from the Palestinian Feminist Collective to the crowd. With the impending 2024 presidential election, Linda Sarsour made it clear that, “Our votes are to be earned.” Watching our brothers and sisters undergo a genocide made it clear to our community that the days of settling for the bare minimum are long over. We need to continue building our people’s power, organizing our community and making our voices heard loud and clear. We are way past a ceasefire, which is an ineffective band-aid to a larger wound. It is now time to end the illegal occupation, stop investing in Israel Bonds, and establish a weapons embargo.
The organizing was tactful. They set up in seven different intersections, so people could move like water rather than acting as stagnant sitting ducks. The priority was our safety, which is why we were all dispersed, and as a consequence they had to spread out law enforcement as well. This speaks to our reasonable need to protect one another and minimize harm.
The military police presence was there and ready to attack without warning. Officers stormed the Quad and randomly beat protesters with batons and pepper sprayed them in a blind, unleashing of their boredom. One of our PACC community members reported his fifteen-year-old sister and her friends, minors, were pepper sprayed by police. The level of the violent police brutality that was aimed at this protest speaks volumes to where our government’s loyalty lies. Despite this, our protesters stayed focused and kept each other accountable. We policed ourselves, making sure we stayed focused on the cause and didn’t get distracted by the traps
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that were set there to get a response. We protected each other and acted as one as we moved through cop-lined streets as more and more police cars unloaded into areas with nothing but chanting going on.
It was a complete waste of our tax dollars and time, specifically of the NYPD officers brought down to washington DC to intimidate us. It was very telling of their racism and the need to treat us like anything but the respectful and loving community members that we are. The U.S continues to misallocate money to support a foreign power as it openly and brazenly commits ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people. This year has been a turning point for so many of us. Palestine has woken us all up in so many ways. The level of police brutality felt by our community during this protest only reinvigorated our commitment to the struggle for liberation and
freedom from these oppressive systems. This should outrage us all and increase our solidarity in dismantling the oppressive two-party system that is one and the same and does not work for the people. It is the same system that enables the murder of Sonya Massey, the same system that allows for violent assault on children, and the same system that opens its doors to a war criminal while its people stand outside protesting it.
We look forward to the day when we no longer have to make the drive to Washington DC to protest to express our outrage. The day when war criminals like Netenyahu are held accountable for their crimes instead of being given a warm welcome. We, instead, look forward to the day when we can come together with various communities to plan the future where social justice is the norm and how systems can work for us, instead of against us.
PACC Vigil
Photo credit: Salah Daoud IG: sala7_dp
